This is the course page archive. For recent courses, visit the TAM
Course Pages.

The following pages contain representative examples of the syllabi and/or course descriptions followed
in various TAM modules. Not all of the syllabi from all TAM courses are contained in this site. Syllabi
vary across years, faculty, and sites.

TAM Fall 2012 Core Courses

All Track I and Track II TAM students took the following three courses at UNC-CH during the 2012 Fall semester. These courses were specifically designed to introduce students to the EU and focus on comparative approaches to the institutions, politics, policies, and societies of nations.

POLI 745: Varieties of Welfare Capitalism (3 credits)Professor John Stephens
The course will examine the development of different types of welfare states in Europe and North America. The course will be structured around the concept of “welfare states regimes”, as defined by Gøsta Esping-Andersen in his path breaking book, Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. The course moves back and forth from broad conceptual issues to examination of developments in five countries which represent the different welfare state types: the United States and Britain as liberal welfare states, Sweden as a social democratic welfare state, Germany as a Christian democratic welfare state, and Italy as a southern or Mediterranean variant of the Christian democratic regime. Syllabus (PDF)

POLI 891 US-EU Lecture Series (pass/fail)Professor John Stephens
This weekly lecture series draws primarily on the expertise of UNC-CH faculty. Topics focus on EU and/or US foreign and domestic politics as well as on contemporary transatlantic relations. Each week, two TAM students are required to research the upcoming topic and speaker; these students introduce the lecturer and lead the discussion following the talk. TAM students are also required to participate in a weekly online discussion forum focused on the lectures. 2012 schedule of speakers (PDF)

POLI 733 European Integration: Theories, Institutions and Decision-Making Processes (3 credits)Professor Christiane Lemke, visiting professor from the University of Hannover in Germany. Professor Lemke is based at NYU and serves as the Max Weber Chair in German and European Studies.
The seminar begins with a brief introduction of the European integration process, then covers major theories of integration, the institutions of the EU, including the most recent EU reform process and some major policies of the EU. Syllabus (PDF)

In addition, all Track I TAM students took a fourth required course:

POLI 632 The EU as a Global Actor (3 credits)
DAAD Professor Holger Moroff
The seminar focuses on the EU’s external relations and foreign policies. The EU is not a classical actor in international relations as it enjoys more decision-making powers than an international organization and less than a unitary state. However, these powers vary according to the degree of integration in different policy fields. We shall look at a diverse set of EU external policies ranging from trade and soft security issues to diplomatic and military developments as well as US-EU relations.

TAM II students had the option to take The EU as a Global Actor as an elective.

2. POLI 438 Democracy and International Institutions in an Undivided EuropeProfessor Milada Vachudova
Explores the collapse of communist rule in 1989, and the reaction of international institutions to the challenges of democratization, economic transition, ethnic conflict and European integration in an Undivided Europe.

3. POLI 495 The Extreme Right in EuropeProfessor Erica Edwards
This course examines recent political trends in Europe involving the rise of nationalism and extreme right-wing parties. Issues of particular interest will include identity and immigration as well as the extreme right’s views on the EU. Special attention will be given to countries such as The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Belgium.

4. PUBH 510 Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Global HealthProfessor Margaret Bentley, Associate Dean of Global Health, UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health
This course explores contemporary issues, problems and controversies in global health through an interdisciplinary perspective; examine the complex tapestry of social, economic, politic and environmental factors that affect global health; alanyze global health disparities through a social justice and human rights lens; and expose students to opportunities in global health work and research.

5. RUES/PWAD 469 Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention in the Former YugoslaviaProfessor Robert Jenkins
This course focuses on factors leading to the breakup of socialist Yugoslavia, the nature of conflicts in this territory thoughout the 1990s, and the various efforts of the international community to end conflict and promote post-conflict reconstruction and development. We will explore how ethno-nationalist identity and mobilization have developed and transformed up to the most recent events. We will also examine the evolution of international intervention from the beginnings of conflict through current efforts. We will end by discussing implications of intervention, ethnic conflict, and nation building in Iraq.

6. HIST 890: Transatlantic Relations from the Cold War to the Present: The Atlantic Security Alliance & the U.S. and the Unity of EuropeProfessor Klaus Larres
This course considers transatlantic relations and the U.S. desire to construct a more united European continent since the end of World War II. On the background of the intensifying Cold War with the Soviet Union, U.S. policy toward Western Europe had two major strands: 1. the security dimension exemplified by the creation of NATO and the Atlantic security alliance, including Washington's nuclear predominance; 2. the western world's ambition to build a united Europe ('ever closer union') that would eventually lead to a federally organized United States of Europe on the model of the U.S.A. Both strands overlapped, complemented and competed with each other over time. Within both strands serious difficulties, animosities and power struggles developed and have continued to the present day. American hegemony in the transatlantic alliance has never remained unchallenged. In fact since the 1960s and early 1970s an ever intensifying transatlantic power battle can be observed.

This course focuses on both of the above strands with perhaps a somewhat greater emphasis on the second strand that tends to be neglected in the literature. We consider and analyze the complex history and politics of transatlantic relations during both the Cold War and the post-Cold War years; we thus deal with the years from the Marshall Plan of 1947 to the Maastricht treaty of 1991/92 and beyond, including the euro crisis (and
Washington's response to the crisis) of the last few years. Syllabus (PDF)

TAM II's Spring 2013 Core Courses

TAM II students remain at UNC-CH for the spring semester when the TAM I students study in Europe. In the spring of 2013, TAM II students took a course on corruption with Holger Moroff (syllabus PDF) and a political contestation course with Erica Edwards (syllabus PDF) and a course on European security with Milada Vachudova (syllabus PDF).

TAM II's Second Academic Year

TAM II students spend their second year of study in Amsterdam, Barcelona, or Bremen. The TAM II overseas coursework is offered in English. VU University Amsterdam, UPF, and the University of Bremen all have strong offerings in social policy. In Amsterdam, courses focus on comparative welfare states, international political economy, international security, and global environmental governance. Some research internships may be available to TAM students who study at the VU. At UPF, course titles in recent semesters include Statistical Analysis I, Electoral Systems, Multiculturality and Immigration Policies, The Welfare State, Globalization and European Integration, Democracy and Political Liberalism, Social Policy and the Welfare State, Electoral Competition and Voting Behaviour, and Migration and Society. In Bremen, research internships are readily available to TAM II students and serve as an integral part of the program. Some of these positions are paid. In addition, social policy coursework focuses on the economy and on health policy. TAM students may also have the option to take classes through other MA programs offered in English at Bremen or at near-by Jacobs University. During the second semester overseas, TAM II students will focus on their thesis research and preparation.